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The Transformation of A Kerosene Lamp

PHOTOGRAPHY GIUSEPPE BESSERO BELTI

The Experimenta vase explores and reinterprets the classic kerosene lamp without any flames. Composed of a cylindrical container for water, glass collected from old lamps is designed by Italian designer Giuseppe Bessero Belti. Belti used a ring and a series of adapters to fix the glass to the vase and for stabilization.

This type of lamp has seen profound technological innovation. There was great scientific progress made in the late eighteenth century and the second half of the nineteenth century. With the introduction of new fuels such as oil and kerosene, designers could experiment with new solutions and new patents where born.

The simplicity of the typically cylindrical shape, the shape of the burner and the chimney, make the lamp not only efficient and save, but allow for simple innovations too. The structure of an oil lamp can be simplified as: “the chimney” glass in various shapes (Kosmos, Matador, Pigeon, Rochester, Bombé viennoise, Globe etc.), “the wick” the fuse which dips into the fuel, “the burner” the nozzle from, which the flame emerges, “the collar” the ring for fastening the glass and “the fount” the container for the fuel.

Setting aside mass production and searching for uniqueness, Giuseppe Bessero Belti rediscovered the classic. With a ready-made operation, he gave the old glass a second life. With the body and adaptor made in plastic and the use of old glass, this handcraftsmanship gives a result of unique pieces where the flame turns into a flower and the fuel into water.

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